This garden shows how sustainable living and a level of self-sufficiency are achievable

Jasper and Kirsty’s Permaculture Garden, which will now be called 'Wander, Gather, Ponder', is becoming one of Adelaide’s few forest gardens.

A natural forest doesn’t require external inputs such as fertiliser to thrive. By integrating nitrogen fixing and nutrient accumulating support plants, syntropic agriculture techniques, poultry waste, bio char creation, composting and innovative water management, soon Wander, Gather, Ponder will also be a self-sustaining forest. Every bit of the property is functionally utilised to produce food and water, herbs, flowers, firewood, weaving, and light weight building materials.

Examples of limiting waste and upcycling abound including mattress springs as trellises, lawn mower catchers as chicken nesting boxes, a chicken house made from garage doors and multiple examples of repurposed scrap concrete including two decorative garden walls. An almost countless number of different food plants provide a year-round varied supply of fresh produce originating from all corners of the globe.

This garden focuses on function rather than aesthetics. Flowering plants support the bee hive and native birds while many ‘weeds’ are also retained to provide habitat and preserve the soil. Wander, Gather, Ponder shows how sustainable living and a level of self-sufficiency are achievable.